Tom Leigh

Major/Minor

Tom Leigh ‘92, a former biology major whose career is grounded in marine biological restoration, is the chief advocate for the health of the Miles and Wye Rivers.

Tom came to the post from a similar position on the Chester, the Chesapeake Bay estuary three blocks from Washington College where he first developed an interest in marine studies.

After college, Tom earned a master’s degree in biology at Hofstra University and went on to serve as resident director of the university’s Marine Lab in Jamaica. He has worked as a biologist at the New Jersey State Aquarium and as a researcher/instructor at Marine Science Consortium on Wallops Island, VA. Most recently, he was a project manager in the restoration division of Environmental Concern, a firm in St. Michaels that constructs and restores wetlands.

“It’s exciting to actually be part of a common goal that’s so important to the area locally,” said Tom. “Rather than writing a report that gets filed away in a cabinet, or performing research that may not be pertinent down the road, this is work that we all have a vested interest in. It’s my back yard. I’d like to watch out for it.”

Tom counts among his most recent accomplishments as the Miles-Wye Riverkeeper his challenge of Delaware’s CAFO regulations as they effect poultry productions, and pushed for tougher regulations to protect waterways. The Miles-Wye Riverkeeper program is they only watershed organization that has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of EPA in the Farm Bureau vs. EPA lawsuit over the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.